“Promoted to Major?” Hearing Vice Admiral Bilos’s words, Roy was naturally quite pleasantly surprised.
In the Marines, the rank of Major marked a true turning point.
Junior officer ranks—even a Lieutenant like him—were essentially low-level officers.
He could only lead his own operational squad, the 35th Custody Squad, to execute missions.
He possessed execution authority, but no real command authority.
Field officers, however, were entirely different.
Starting from the rank of Major, an officer could have their name engraved upon a warship and command a vessel of their own.
At the same time, they gained a degree of tactical decision-making authority, the power to appoint and remove subordinates, the ability to issue combat orders, access to high-level classified documents, participation in confidential tactical briefings, and even the authority to requisition local Marine bases for assistance.
This distinction was equally apparent in compensation—a Lieutenant earned roughly 300,000 Belly a month, whereas a Major’s salary surged to 500,000 Belly.
After a moment of reflection, Roy came to a sudden realization.
*So that’s how it is!* He instantly understood why Smoker had suddenly given up on dragging him along as an adjutant.
Once promoted to Major, regulations dictated that he could no longer serve as an adjutant for Smoker’s future branch base.
“Old man…
you really helped me out big time!” Roy said with sincere gratitude.
“Bwahahaha, it’s nothing!” Vice Admiral Bilos laughed heartily.
“This old man promised to report your merits.
If I couldn’t even keep a promise to my own subordinate, I would have retired long ago!
But listen here, kid, now that you’re a Major, I’ve already signed you up for the All-Forces Tournament—you don’t have any objections, do you?” “Of course not.” Roy was taken aback for a second, but then nodded decisively.
Since he already knew Vice Admiral Bilos planned to retire after the All-Forces Tournament, he definitely had to participate.
The position of commander for the Custody Unit was something he was determined to secure.
“Good!
That’s the spirit—it’s rare to see you so serious,” Vice Admiral Bilos said, nodding with satisfaction.
“Now you actually look the part!
Before this, you were so lazy you didn’t have a shred of vigor in you!” His tone abruptly shifted as he added, “However, I must warn you.
As I mentioned earlier, the World Government feels our Marine forces handled this recent incident very poorly.
To restore military discipline, this All-Forces Tournament…
might be quite different from previous ones.
The difficulty will be far higher.” He looked gravely at Roy.
“Your strength isn’t bad, kid, but you still have shortcomings.
That’s why I contacted an old friend of mine to give you special training over these next few months.” “An old friend?
Special training?” Roy frowned slightly at the mention of this.
He didn’t feel he particularly needed any special training.
“That’s right!” Vice Admiral Bilos said seriously.
“He’s a formidable guy, and he hasn’t taught anyone in quite a while.
He should contact you in a few days.
Learn well from him, kid.” He patted Roy on the shoulder.
Seeing the Vice Admiral looking at him like a mentor passing the torch, Roy could only nod helplessly.
“Alright then.” “Good!
Now get back and prepare yourself.” Vice Admiral Bilos waved his hand and nonchalantly pulled a skewer of his beloved dango out of a drawer.
Roy had no intention of interrupting his superior’s afternoon tea and obediently turned to leave.
However…
*Old Man Bilos’s old friend…
a formidable person…
Well, there are only a handful of candidates who fit that description, and what I need to cram in short order isn’t hard to guess either.* As he walked out of the fortress tower, Roy already had a rough idea in mind.
But clearly, that matter wasn’t his highest priority right now.
To him, what truly mattered was…
*I need to create my next slice clone as soon as possible, keep gathering Belly, and establish the concrete existence of the Twelve Zodiacs.
Otherwise, my presence in this recent incident remains too noticeable, and I might end up being targeted.* Roy pondered as he walked.
*The only question now is…* He looked at the space before his eyes.
The illusory light screen displayed its information with absolute clarity: [Fruit Encyclopedia] [Holder: Roy Amos] [Current Encyclopedia Fruit Types: 21 (Paramecia: 8, Zoan: 8, Logia: 4, Special Paramecia: 0, Mythical Type Zoan: 1)] [Fruit Slots: 3] [Equipped Fruits: Glint-Glint Fruit LV2, Dragon-Dragon Fruit: Quetzalcoatlus Form LV3, Strong-Strong Fruit] [Current Belly: 5,137,600,000] “Which fruits should I upgrade?” Roy found himself in a state of happy dilemma.
Indeed.
During the previous operation to seize the Heavenly Tribute, he had ultimately chosen to spend 400 million Belly to upgrade one of his Logia fruits, the Glint-Glint Fruit.
An LV2 Glint-Glint Fruit allowed for partial elementization of the body, alongside blistering speed and the destructive power of lasers.
In his eyes, it was a Logia capability exceptionally well-suited to pair with the Quetzalcoatlus Form.
And facts had proven that this upgrade was entirely necessary.
When facing Commodore Ranri’s ultimate sword stroke, it was precisely this ability that enabled ‘Rooster’ to survive.
*Logia fruits are countered by Haki, but Haki only allows physical contact with the elementized body.
When elementized, lethal moves like decapitation or heart-piercing blows cannot instantly kill me.
Paired with the immense vitality of an Ancient Type Zoan, it’s a perfect combination.* Roy marveled internally at how well-suited his fruit synergy was.
Now, the issue became straightforward.
*First, spend five hundred million Belly to upgrade the Slice-Slice Fruit to LV2, which will allow me to divide into two additional clones.
That’s a mandatory expense.* *The main question is what to upgrade after that.* Roy understood clearly that although the five billion Belly in his hands sounded like a vast fortune, it still wasn’t enough when facing the massive money sink that was the Fruit Encyclopedia.
He could choose to upgrade several fruits to LV2, upgrade the Dragon-Dragon Fruit to LV4, or elevate a few Logia fruits to LV3.
The price and power discrepancies between different fruits gave rise to countless strategic choices.
“Coo!
Coo!” While Roy was deep in thought, a sound came from above his head.
He instinctively looked up and saw a news gull wearing a delivery cap dropping a stack of newspapers toward him.
“Oh?
A newspaper from the World Economic Journal?” Roy caught the paper and opened it.
Unsurprisingly, the bounty poster for ‘Rooster’ that he had seen earlier slipped out, while the incident at Arasheet Island naturally claimed the front-page headline.
Roy didn’t care about the headline—the Marines were hunting the criminal ‘Rooster’, which had nothing to do with Marine Major Roy.
Right now, his eyes caught a relatively inconspicuous section of the paper.
[Alabasta Suffers Seven Months Without Rain; Abnormal Climate Draws Widespread Concern] “…Oh?” Roy raised an eyebrow.
“I think I know which fruit I should upgrade.” Muttering to himself, Roy quickened his pace and soon returned to the Custody Unit quarters.
Closing his door, Roy continued to refine his plan.
“Wait, did I forget something?” As the moon rose high and the night deepened, Roy scratched his head and muttered under his breath.
However, that tiny doubt was quickly thrown to the back of his mind as he threw himself back into his work.
Naturally, Roy had completely forgotten…
At that very moment, on the Custody Unit training ground: “Why isn’t the boss here yet?” In the chill of the night, Sergeant Hans stood all alone, shivering violently in the cold.
“Didn’t he say he was coming to beat me up?
Did he forget?” “Maybe I should head back…
No, if I go back and the boss finds out, I’m dead meat—*Achoo!* Cold…
it’s so cold…” One week after Sergeant Hans caught a severe cold from staying up all night training…
Alabasta, Erumalu.
This city on the southwestern shore of Alabasta, adjacent to the Sandora River, had once been dubbed the ‘City of Oases’ for its prosperity.
Recently, however, an atmosphere of deep unease hung over it.
Seven months—for seven whole months, not a single drop of rain had fallen on Erumalu.
The once-rushing Sandora River, which nourished both banks, had now dropped to its lowest water level in recorded history.
Even fetching drinking water for Erumalu had become a severe crisis.
“The price of water keeps rising…
They say even the groundwater is drying up…” On the southern side of Erumalu, Aiba wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking at the large clay jar before him that was nearly empty.
“What on earth is going on?” Anxiety gnawed at his heart.
As citizens of a nation composed largely of desert, the people of Alabasta were no strangers to drought.
But a drought like this—one that seemed intent on sucking the very earth dry—was something he had never encountered in his life.
“Don’t worry, Aiba.
King Cobra will surely find a way,” his wife reassured him from the side, holding their young daughter in her arms.
“King Cobra?
I heard Alubarna has been receiving regular rain all this time,” Aiba said grimly, scooping a small sip of water from the jar and handing it to his wife and daughter.
“Meanwhile, the Yuba Oasis in the north is in an even worse state.
People have already begun fleeing…
If the King had a solution, he would have implemented it long ago.” He felt deeply uneasy.
Though there was no concrete proof yet, rumors had begun circulating through Erumalu recently.
It was whispered that His Majesty the King had used forbidden means to ensure rain fell on the capital, causing the rest of the realm to suffer complete drought.
He didn’t entirely believe it—after all, King Cobra had always been renowned for his wisdom and benevolence—but still…
“This can’t go on,” Aiba muttered, gazing up at the painfully bright, cloudless blue sky.
Right at that moment…
“Huh?” Out of the corner of his eye, Aiba caught sight of something in the distance.
Far beyond the city gates, at the edge of the desert, a lone figure was walking slowly toward them.
The distance was still great, making the figure appear faint and blurred.
But Aiba could clearly see the phenomenon surrounding that figure.
“…” Aiba instinctively rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Only as the figure drew closer did he confirm it was no illusion.
Directly above that figure’s head, dark gray storm clouds were continuously forming and gathering.
The cloud layer hung low, as if created out of thin air.
From within those clouds, a visible curtain of water descended like a pillar stretching down from the heavens, enveloping the figure completely!
*Pitter-patter!* *Down it poured!* As the figure approached, Aiba could distinctly hear the sound.
It was the sound every citizen in Erumalu had been desperately longing for.
It was rain—a heavy, torrential downpour.
“That person…
is that person…
a god?” The thought sprang uncontrollably into Aiba’s mind.
A second later, he snapped back to his senses.
“Quick!
Tsuna, get the buckets and jars—bring out every vessel we have in the house, hurry!” he shouted frantically to his wife, watching the approaching storm.
“Right!” As his wife scrambled back inside to gather water containers, Aiba took a deep breath and turned back to look at the figure.
By now, the figure was very close, allowing Aiba to make out his appearance.
He wore a dark, heavy robe that concealed his body, but Aiba could clearly see the mask resting over his face.
Aiba recognized that style of mask—it was a ‘Sea Beast Mask’, a specialty of the South Blue.
It was said they could be bought anywhere or even custom-ordered.
In a great kingdom like Alabasta and a major city like Erumalu, such masks weren’t particularly rare.
Yet amidst that pouring rain, that mask radiated an overwhelming aura of majesty and mystery.
It was…
a Dragon Mask!